Chimelong Paradise (AKA Cheyenne's First Amusement Park), April 7, 2017

Today we had our last outing in China. We went to a full-sized amusement park called Chimelong Paradise. We wanted to see how Cheyenne handled being at a place like that before we purchase season passes to Kings Island. She did great! All five of us had a fantastic time. Also, she got over her fear of roller coasters!

We decided to "rip the band-aid off" right away and went to the only real roller coaster she was tall enough to ride first. She was a little nervous and wanted to ride with Daddy (probably because I'm pretty certain she's convinced I slammed her head into the car railing the time she got hurt). Either way she enjoyed it. Kevin and I then took turns riding smaller rides with her while the other one went off and rode a big-kid roller coaster with Nathan and Casey.

By the end of the day, we rode almost everything in the park that wasn't for very little kids. Cheyenne loved one particular ride so much that she and the boys rode it three times. Each time she laughed and giggled like it was the first time. It was so cute and sweet seeing her with the boys and seeing how great they both are with her. :)

The park closed at 6:00 and we were to meet our driver back at the front of the park where we started. Since we had to go there anyway, we decided that I would take Cheyenne back on the roller coaster we rode first while Kevin took our boys to the big kid coaster. This time, she wasn't nervous at all and had no problem getting on the coaster with me. She laughed and giggled and thoroughly enjoyed herself...so much so that we rode it again. There was nobody in line so we didn't even have to get off the ride. That time was even better and I'm pretty certain she now knows that I'm not evil! :)

Overall the day was great. Tomorrow is our last full day and night before leaving China. I will spend the majority of the day packing our bags and ensuring we are ready to go bright and early Sunday morning. Our flight leaves Guangzhou at 10:00 am, so our guide wants to pick us up at 7:00am.

China has been overall better than I expected, but we are so ready to go home. Please pray for smooth and safe travels and that Cheyenne handles the long flights well.

Safari Park, Thursday, April 6, 2017

On Thursday we went with another family to see Safari Park. It is like a zoo on steroids! Instead of one or two of each animal, there were like ten or twelve. Safari Park is also home to the only Panda triplets in the WORLD.

We started out by taking a tram ride that showed us many animals...and several of them were fighting. We saw kangaroos boxing each other, bears wrestling each other and lions roaring at each other. I thought there was a rule of thumb that you should have one make lion in a pack, but apparently those rules don't apply in China because the lion pack had at least four males.

They have a Jurassic trail that has animatronic dinosaurs. We heard that parts of the trail were scary, but none of our kids were phased by it and Cheyenne seemed bored.

Nathan and Casey got to feed the tigers. They were given a small pan of raw meat pieces to throw over the wall. Of course, in typical Nathan fashion, he threw his piece right in the middle of the three white tigers and started a brawl. :) Casey felt bad for the sole bengal tiger layign off by himself, so he threw a piece over to him. It did get him up and walking down to the food, which created a nice photo op.

We loved seeing the pandas. The pathway to their area was filled with pictures of them as newborns and as they grew. They were SOO tiny and all white when they were born. They looked more like newborn puppies than pandas. When we can to them, two of them were laying together and the third was walking towards them. He plopped on one of them and started tugging at its ear like it wanted to play. It was really cute.

By this time, it was time to meet our driver to head back to the hotel. Poor Cheyenne was so sleepy, she fell asleep on daddy's lap on the way back.

Once back to the hotel, we enjoyed some quiet time before taking Cheyenne up to the "pool" (the hot tub). Then we went to dinner and I gave Chey a bath.

Today we are heading to the full-sized Amusement Park. We are planning to "force" Cheyenne back into a roller coaster in hopes that she wll get over her new fear caused by the ride on Tuesday. We are convinced that she will enjoy it since she was so happy with the last one - right up until she hit her head. This wil;l be our last outing in Guangzhou. Tomorrow we will spend the day at our hotel and packing our suitcases for the long awaited trip home!

The Past Few Days, April 3, 4 and 5th, 2017

I haven't blogged the past few days because there hasn't been too much going on to write about. I'll catch you up on what we've done the past few days, starting with the most important:

Today, Kevin and I took Cheyenne to the U.S. Consulate. This is the final formal piece of journey. This is basically like finalizing the adoption on the U.S. side. We had to take an oath that all information we have given is honest and still accurate. Then we had to have an interview with a U.S. Department of State agent and had him review all of our paperwork. Of course we passed with flying colors! Now, they will issue Cheyenne her immigration Visa into the United States. With this process behind us, it means she will become a full-fledged American citizen as soon as she steps foot on American soil. They told us during the interview that this particular document (the US Visa) is the "hardest document in the world to obtain". As he said that, I was thinking, "No S*%t, we've been working night and day for the past 9+ months to get it!" :)

After the consulate appointment, we had a little down time in our hotel room but then all decided we were sick of the four walls. We hailed a cab and went to the Teemall - this is like a mall on steroids! It is a total of 8 floors. We just planned to walk around and kill some time, but we stumbled across a full size movie theater and it was perfect timing to see the new Beauty and the Beast in 3D. We debated whether or not Cheyenne would handle it but the boys were BEGGING to watch it and we haven't done much FOR them this trip so we decided we would try it. Kevin graciously agreed to be the one to leave with Cheyenne if she got bored or overwhelmed...but she did great! For the most part she was very focused. We then grabbed a quick dinner and came back to the hotel.

Yesterday we were  supposed to have a free day. Well actually, originally we were scheduled to go with another family to a Buddist temple and a Folk Arts Museum, but we decided we've had about as much culture as we can stand, so we opted not to go. Instead, much like today, we decided to try exploring on our own. We hailed a taxi to the Guangzhou City Zoo. It was a holiday here, so the place was PACKED, but we still managed to have a good time. The first thing we did was watch a cool marine life show with seals and dolphins. Then we walked around and saw the other animals. The zoo has a small "Amusement Park" as part of it. The size was similar to the kiddieland part of Kings Island. On Friday, we are planning to take the kids to a real,   full-sized Amuzement Park. We thought we would try a few rides at the zoo to make sure Cheyenne like to ride before we spent the money on the real park. Overall it went ok, but one of the ride we rode was a small roller coaster. She loved it and giggled the whole time - until we took a turn too fast and she hit the side of her face on the side of the car. when we got off the ride it was a little red and she told us it hurt. Thanks to Google Translator, we managed to get a baggie of ice to put on it for the 10 seconds that she would allow it to be there. We thought we may be the first family to show up at the US Consulate with a child with a black eye - but fortunately, this morning you could hardly tell it was there. She was definately hesitant to ride anything else after that happened, so hopefully she isn't scared too long and will be willing to try again on Friday. Kevin, the boys and I are all coaster junkies and really hope we can make her one too. :)

Monday we went with another family and our guide to a place call White Cloud Mountain. We rode a cable car to the top of the mountain. Cheyenne thought that was coolest thing ever and laughed the whole time. The view from the top was a panoramic view of the city of Guangzhou and it was beautiful. Once we were back at the bottom of the bottom of the mountain, we went into this beautiful garden area. There were multiple fountains, statues and more species of flowers than I've ever seen. After spending some time in the garden, it was time to head back to the hotel. Nathan did homework while Casey, Kevin, Cheyenne and I went to the pool. Cheyenne loves swimming and as soon as we pull out her bathing suit, she starts jumping and dancing because she is so excited. We attempted to swim in the pool but the watch was still frigid, so again we "swam" in the hot tub.

Overall, everything is still going very well for us. Cheyenne is doing great and is adorable even when she is being honery. The boys (including Kevin) and I are starting to miss home and spent a good portion of the day today talking about what we miss most, mainly foods, and how we can't wait to get home. The next few days will be busy, so hopefully that helps the last few days pass quickly. I pointed out to Kevin that it's been just under two weeks and we are home sick and craving many foods we miss - but at least we get to go home. We need to keep in mind that once we've been home a  few weeks, Cheyenne will most likely start to miss the "home" and comfort foods/items that she has always known. We will need to be mindful of that and try to give her what we can as much as possible. Fortunately, we have many great Chinese restaurants near us - and I make a killer Chicken Fried Rice, if I do say so myself!

Pearl Market and Shamian Island

Today we   went with our guide and another family to the Pearl Market Shamian Island. The Pearl Market has genuine pearls and Jade jewelry for much cheaper than you can find in the states. We ended up buying Cheyenne a Jade bracelet that is traditionally given to Chinese girls by their mothers on their 16th birthday. We also bought her a pearl necklace and earring set for her to wear on her wedding day. We also bought strand of mini pearls and had them make her and I matching bracelets from it.

When we finished at the Pearl Market, the driver took us to Shamian Island. The island looks a lot like Charleston, SC. It is very quaint and has a ton of shops and little diners. We found the dress shop.  We bought Cheyenne several traditional Chinese silk dresses in various sizes so that she can wear one for the next several years for special occasions like Chinese New Year, her birthday and/or the anniversary of our Gotcha Day.

Once we were finished shopping, we all had lunch. Then it was time to return to our hotel. Kevin took the boys for a walk to explore the area and I gave Cheyenne a nap. She got upset again, but I was in a much better emotional state to deal with it. I comforted her and brought out a stuffed panda that helped. She eventually fell asleep and we took a short nap before Kev and the boys got back. Then we all played, Kevin and I took Cheyenne to the hotel park so the boys could do some homework and then we went to dinner.

Overall, Cheyenne is still doing amazingly well. She is learning so much every day. She can already count to 10 in English and is able to do simple math games on her tablet. This week has flown by! Tomorrow will be one week since she has been ours! Tomorrow we are going to White Cloud Mountain. It shoudl be another easy day where we get back early and have time to play and explore.

Free Day ant Pearl River Cruise, Saturday, April 1, 2017

Today was a nice relaxing day - free of melt downs. :) We got up, ate breakfast and let the kids play in the room for a while. Then, we took a walk to the department store and grocery store to get some more drinks and snacks for the room.

When we got back we made Cheyenne take a short nap. She was a little upset but didn't cry. After her nap, we decided to check out the pool. Today was the first sunny day since we got to Guangzhou. We all got dressed in our baiting suits and went up to the pool. Cheyenne looked so cute in her swim ring and sunglasses. She is the perfect mix of tom-boy and girly girl.

We all stuck one foot in the pool and quickly realized why we were the only ones out there...it was FRIGID! So, instead of swimming in the pool, we all headed to the hot tub. It was warm, but not hot. Cheyenne had a blast jumping from the seat to the middle "deeper" section so that she could use her swim ring.

After swimming, our guide came to our room to help us complete the paperwork we will need on Wednesday at the Consulate appointment.

We then headed out to the Pearl River cruise. The boat takes you down the river and past the Guangzhou city skyline, which is filled with lights. There were multiple bridges that were lit with color changing lights and we sailed down past the Canton Tower. The Canton Tower has the highest observation deck in the world. It was beautiful to see all lit up at night.

We took multiple pictures and then Cheyenne had a blast making herself the selfie Queen with my camera phone.

Once back to our hotel, we ate PB&J sandwiches as a dinner/snack and let the kids play a while before we all head to bed.

Tomorrow we are going shopping with our guide. We are headed to the Pearl Market and Shamian Island. It should be another easy day.